How to Save for Hajj with a Skyrocketing Price Tag
By Maariya Quadri
May/Jun 2024
In the winter of 2004, newlyweds Amy Chiang and her husband decided to put their wedding gift money toward hajj instead of a honeymoon. They performed the sacred journey for roughly $5,000 per person. Two decades later, the cost has skyrocketed to nearly four times that amount.
“Hearing that takes my breath away,” said Chiang, who works as an attorney and has three children. “Hajj is an obligation, and by making it so expensive the Saudi government is taking it out of the realm of what’s possible for most people.”
Unlike Chiang, Noor Ahmed* and her husband performed hajj before their nineteenth wedding anniversary last year. They originally had planned to go during 2020, but the pandemic put their plans on hold. The couple put aside that money for when they could go, eventually in 2023. When they saw the new post-Covid price tag, they were shocked.
Throughout their marriage, Ahmed and her husband have been mindful of their expenditures to save for hajj.
“My entire extended family lives in Egypt, and my siblings and parents visit them frequently,” says Ahmed. “However, we have yet to go there or Pakistan or on umrah, all of which are highly expensive trips for our family of five. We didn’t want to spend on another international trip before we fulfilled our obligation toward Allah first.”
Hajj was the first time Ahmed and her husband had ever visited Makkah or traveled abroad together.
How to Save
So how exactly does one save up for such an expensive undertaking? Chiang recommends that people open a separate hajj bank account, determine a rough cost estimate and start budgeting a little every month to afford it.
Another way could be to open a hajj account with an Islamic investment company. Iman Fund, an investment advisor to a mutual fund, has a shariah-compliant methodology by not investing in companies that deal with interest, alcohol, gambling, adult entertainment, or pork products. Instead they invest in technology, healthcare, along with oil and gas companies.
Mohamad Nasir (general manager, Iman Fund), a Sharia-compliant investment advisor to a mutual fund, recommends applying for his fund’s specific hajj account. Once this account is in place, he suggests investing a chosen amount of money each month. Even if doing so is difficult for some, there are other options.
“You can put as much money as you can at any time you want,” Nasir said. He advises against investing in the market only over one year, as it fluctuates. Instead, the ideal is to invest in the mutual fund over several years, so that even during times of fluctuation one’s money is protected. “You are accumulating your funds for hajj over time, rather than making a difficult last-minute purchase.” He also acknowledges that this special account psychologically prepares people for the responsibility to save. “This makes saving easier, rather than pulling it out of a regular investment or bank account,” he says.
IT director Haroon Hasan, a father of two from Clifton, N.J., plans to go on hajj this year. He recommends committing to a clear goal and working backward. To do this, he says, “Pay yourself first. Decide how much of your paycheck goes into savings before anything else.”
Nadia Naviwala, a teacher in Illinois, performed hajj in 2023 along with her husband and mother-in-law. However, they went with a Pakistani group called Al-Moazzin, since they all had dual citizenship. She also knows others who have done the same. Their package still cost a pretty penny, but they wanted to go with a group that conversed primarily in Urdu for the convenience of her mother-in-law.
Who Pays for Hajj?
Should the husband or the wife pay for this costly journey? “I think it’s a beautiful gift and reward for the husband that doesn’t take away from the wife’s reward in any way,” notes Chiang, who saved with her husband for their second hajj in 2006.
Ahmed agrees on this joint approach, especially after becoming a stay-at-home mom, saying, “For my husband, it was very important to him that he was paying his part on his own. For us, our collective money went into it, which was mostly from my husband. Whether it comes from my income or his, I believe it’s the same.”
Hafiz Azam Hashmi, a Chicago native and group leader for Sacred Hajj, a 501(c)(3) company, states that from a Sharia standpoint, it’s not necessarily the husband’s obligation to pay for his wife’s hajj. However, he acknowledges that everyone’s financial circumstances are different.
“The husband may typically gift a certain amount of money to his wife, which she can use to afford hajj,” says Hashmi, the father of four. He also offers the flip side, saying, “Sometimes the wife is in a better financial situation and may end up gifting the husband the money.”
Hashmi’s first hajj in 2006 cost around $6,000 per person. As a single person with very few other expenses, he was able to afford it in about 18 months.
“For hajj 2024, we at Sacred Hajj are working with our travel partner Adam Travel to offer a package of around $16-$18,000 per person, depending on the accommodations chosen,” he shares. He worries, though, about people taking on credit card debt to pay for it, for paying or taking interest is haram.
According to Naviwala, they had to cut down on the “extras” post-hajj. Ahmed, whose children are much older than Naviwala’s two girls, states that now they’re saving for their kids’ college education. They also hope to perform a family umrah soon.
When Should You Go?
“Don’t delay it,” Hashmi advises. “Whenever Allah has blessed a person with enough money and the ability to go, it actually becomes wajib (compulsory) upon them.” He speculates that people’s attitude might get in the way. “There’s never going to be the right time. I think that’s a big mistake that some people make — thinking they’re not ready yet.”
of IAGD, Detroit.
Chiang emphasizes this as well. “If you have everything and are delaying it, that’s scary,” she says. “What if Allah asks, ‘I gave you all this, so why didn’t you go?’”
One factor can be familial restraints, such as leaving young children behind. Some young couples are opting for hajj before starting a family. Others have family members who are willing to watch their children while they make this trip of a lifetime. Start with making the purest intention and working toward it. Ask God to make it happen with full sincerity, and doors that you didn’t even know existed can open for you.
God understands each person’s intentions, circumstances and efforts.
Hadith compilations by al-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaiymah, Ibn Hibban and others proclaim that the Prophet said that all pilgrims are God’s guests.
“You never know what could happen; it’s a fard for which we are held accountable for not doing when we could have,” Ahmed states. “So do your best to make it happen, and Allah will take care of the rest.”
*Name changed for privacy of the interviewee.
Maariya Quadri, an avid reader and nature lover, lives in Illinois with her family. A pre-law student pursuing communications and technology, she volunteers as a community relations commissioner for her village and works as a youth mentor.
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